Here's a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the latest developments on the local-option tax issue - the House speaker is blocking bills there that don't include constitutional amendments, but says they could go to the Senate; the Senate chairman says he won't…
Senate Tax Chairman Brent Hill, R-Rexburg, says he's not likely to introduce local-option tax legislation in his committee this year, even though House Speaker Lawerence Denney said he saw no problem with senators doing so - since Denney's blocking such bills from being considered in…
This year's version is 89 pages long, plus another separate bill on funding that's a mere eight pages. The aim: Reform Idaho's election system so that all local elections, whether they're for city, county, sewer district, cemetery district, school board or what have you, are…
Idaho likely is looking at more budget holdbacks during the current budget year - or dipping into rainy-day funds - just to make it through, Senate President Pro-Tem Bob Geddes and House Speaker Lawerence Denney warned today. "There are plans being made to continue to…
The Senate has voted 31-3 in favor of SB 1015, which would require the state Fish & Game Department to ask all other 49 states if they want any of Idaho's wolves. "The question is whether we need to kill wolves to protect livestock and…
Fish and Game officials say sales of fishing and hunting licenses to state residents have remained steady despite Idaho's shaky economy, the AP reports. Fish and Game Director Cal Groen told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee this morning that as the economy worsens, people want to…
The House State Affairs Committee got hung up when Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, objected to a clause in a bill from Rep. Steve Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, that sought to outlaw Internet harassment, because it listed "MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Twitter" along with personal blogs. Labrador asked…
House Speaker Lawerence Denney is not allowing any local-option tax bill to be considered in the House unless it contains a constitutional amendment, a restriction opposed by many local-option backers. "That has been my position, that if it's not a constitutional amendment, I'm not interested,"…
News, happenings and more from the Idaho Legislature and the state capital.
